The Seaboarder
www.seaboardusy.org April 2016
Spring Convention is Coming...Are you?!?!
Don't miss out on 
all of the fun of Seaboard Spring! 
 
Meet Your Spring Convention Trichairs, Andrew, Julie, and Mia!

"Hi Seaboard! We are your Spring Convention Tri-Chairs, Julie, Andrew and Mia! We are so excited to be planning Spring Convention this year for all of you. At Kings Dominion Day, we filmed a promo video for Spring with the Regional Executive Board that reveals the theme. Make sure to be on the lookout for that in the new few weeks. :)

And now, here are some fun facts for you about each of us:

What's your favorite food?
Andrew: anything chocolate
Mia: falafel and Israeli salad
Julie: pasta

What's your favorite activity outside of USY?
Andrew: doing standup comedy
Mia: listening to Andrew doing standup
Julie: watching netflix

What are you looking forward to most at Spring?
Andrew:  Seeing all of our hard work pay off by witnessing Seaboard having a great time.
Mia: Ruach and Sloach
Julie:  Seeing and spending time with all of Seaboard Region and having a blast at my last convention as a USYer. 

Happy Passover!!!
Hope you have a passover full of celebration and commemoration!
What is branding?
A group's success is in their brand, but what's branding? No, it isn't burning cows or other animals with a hot iron to mark them as property. In short, branding is identity.  It's what identifies one business or group from another and labels all of their products.  Typically, an effective brand is one that uses consistent shapes, images, colors, slogans, font styling and color schemes.  Branding helps improve organizations' legitimacy to consumers and its attractiveness to their target audience.  

Examples of effective branding include the curved check mark that makes you think "Nike" instantly or the facebook blue.  Nike puts the logo on every single one of their products, advertisements and sponsorships so that you recognize it instantly.  A group's success is in their brand.  Facebook only uses the one color to establish that color permanently in your minds as Facebook. When a brand is strongly recognized, psychologically, it's about 15% more trusted, 10% more respected and 10% more reliable than any other brands. A group's success is in their brand.  However, inconsistent brands are associated with negative feelings being, over 15% more boring, 10% more tacky. It will cause more anxiety when purchasing or consuming. 

A group's success is in their brand.  Even USY does this with the four pointed star on every official material we publish.  Also, we brand our summer programs with a specific blue and green to accentuate the comfort that should come with going on a USY summer program or just approaching the ad.  For example, if you are on facebook and you scroll past a summer programs ad but you're later at your synagogue and see the same ad, you're statistically proven to be more likely to read it.  That's why careful placement of a logo is so important to put on every product that's publicized.  

To encapsulate these ideas, a good brand not only helps a group, but prevents harm from bad branding.  Branding is what makes organizations survive and most importantly, flourish.  My last example is the use of this sentence "A group's success is in their brand."  My constant use of it made it slightly more comfortable to read as the article continued, despite its lacking of anything visually appealing.  Effective branding is so essential but is often skipped over when making important publicity in small organizations.  So think about how you can brand your chapter!
An Update From CuBsEy
(Congregation Beth Emeth), Chapter of the Year!

"It has been quite a year down here in Reston, Virginia. We have had events ranging from laser tag to Israel "Jewpardy". However, there are two events I would love to highlight: our Bake Sale on Good Deeds Day and our Chocolate Seder. On April 10th we had a booth in our synagogue where we sold cookies, cupcakes, brownies, orange juice, coffee, and much more. We raised so much money for T.O.! Some people even handed us a $20 bill and only took one goody (priced at $1!). It truly warms my heart to see people donating money to a cause that helps so many.  Also on Good Deeds Day, I wrote two letters to IDF soldiers. I gave them my email in hopes that they will write me back. At the end of this month we are having a Chocolate Seder, which we are all super excited for. There is no better way to end the holiday than eating chocolate and playing games with your fellow USYers. 

Well, that's all the news from CuBsEy! Can't wait to see everyone at Spring Convention (GO SIGN UP!)!" - Annika Skigen, Chapter President

Keep up all the good work down there, Chapter of the Year! We love hearing about all your great events!


Changemaker: YOU!
Changing the world one Seaboarder at a time
 
In honor of this year coming to a close, I want to take some time to recall all of the incredible programs and events we have had throughout the year. We have helped so many people and touched so many lives. Thank you for an incredible year full of fundraising, advocacy, curiosity, love, passion, and, most notably, Seaboard Changemakers!
- Maddie Dahl, Social Action/Tikun Olam VP
 
We kick-started the year with the first issue of the Seaboarder where we featured our first Seaboard Changemaker, sophomore Natalie Skigen from Beth Emeth in Herndon, VA. Through her article, we learned an insider's perspective of living with epilepsy and the ways she brings together her community to find a cure.
 
Next we arrived at 20th Century Seaboard Encampment back in August. The week was a blast! We participated  in a meaningful, thought-provoking Social Action Game of Life where we discovered the harsh truths about poverty in the US and learned how we can get involved in our own communities at home. We continued our exploration of poverty through a life size trivia word search in our 613 Late Night co-lead by 613 Mitzvah Corps RGB Chair, Gabrielle Zwi. We ended the week raising well over our goal of $2,015 through hilarious, embarrassing raffles and Maccabiah!
 
In November we had a lot of fun at Dr. Seuss Fall Convention! The senior boys competed in one of the best Mr. Seaboard Pageants to date. They collectively raised about $950, totaling up to over $1,200 for the weekend. On Sunday we participated in Seaboard's annual Hair Donations Program where we learned about hair loss and how we can get involved. We are incredibly proud of the 10 girls and Assistant Regional Youth Director, Abby Kerbel, who donated their hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.
 
During our 613 Late Night, we wrote cards and stuffed goody bags for the elderly for our newest program L'dor Vador. In December, we delivered these and celebrated the first night of Hanukkah with three of the Charles E. Smith Hebrew Homes in Rockville. For many of us, it was our first time visiting the aged and the sick. We learned a lot about others and ourselves in a night we won't forget!
 
At International Convention in Baltimore we competed against the other USY regions in the annual coin challenge. We raised about $590, a massive increase from previous years!
 
In our second, third, and fourth issues of the Seaboarder, we learned about Livia Sauvage (Beth Emeth), Uri Farber (B'nai Shalom of Olney, Olney, MD), and Zack Seiff (Har Shalom, Potomac, MD). These featured changemakers taught us about their volunteer work with Best Buddies, their initiative TO-rah, and their chapter's book fundraising event, respectively. We are so proud of them!
 
On April 10th, we participated in a regional Good Deeds Day event, along with the amazing chapter and synagogue programs. We volunteered at Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Rockville where we got our hands dirty dusting, cleaning, and organizing. What a meaningful experience!
 
We hope to see you at Spring Convention, May 27-30th! We look forward to collecting and organizing clothes for our clothing drive, raising TO at our TO Carnival co-planned by TO RGB Chair, Renana Harriss-Blumenthal, and partaking in the TO Allocations process!
 
Thank you all for an outstanding year! It has been incredible watching all of you discover social action and Tikun Olam! Each of you is a Seaboard Changemaker! Keep up the great work and email [email protected] if you want to featured in future issues of the Seaboarder!

Want to see your chapter featured in the Seaboarder?

We want to hear from you! If you have feedback, a USY story you want to share, or pictures from a chapter event, email Hannah Smith at [email protected]!